And his son ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā was a man of great prestige—learned, eloquent, and held in high regard. Because of his eminence al-Maʾmūn named him heir-apparent, and he died in the year 203 AH.

His son Muḥammad al-Jawād was one of the nobles of his clan, though he never matched his forefathers in knowledge or jurisprudence.

Likewise, his son known as al-Hādī was a distinguished and honorable figure; the same may be said of his son al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-ʿAskarī—may Allah Most High have mercy on them all.

As for this Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, Abū Muḥammad Ibn Ḥazm relates that al-Ḥasan died without leaving any offspring. He adds that the majority of the Rāfiḍah nevertheless insist that al-Ḥasan had a son whom he concealed.

Some maintain instead that a son was born to him after his death, by a slave-woman named Nargis—or Sawsan—although their more common claim is that her name was Ṣaqīl. She asserted that she was pregnant after her master died, so his estate was kept in suspension for seven years. His brother Jaʿfar ibn ʿAlī contested her claim; a faction sided with her while others supported him. In the end the alleged pregnancy proved baseless, whereupon al-Ḥasan’s inheritance was taken by his brother Jaʿfar and another brother.

Al-Ḥasan’s death occurred in 260 AH… until he said:

The turmoil among the Rāfiḍah intensified because of Ṣaqīl and her assertion, until al-Muʿtaḍid imprisoned her a little over twenty years after her master’s death. She remained confined in his palace until she died during the reign of al-Muqtadir.

I say: They claim that Muḥammad entered a sirdāb (subterranean cellar) in his father’s house while his mother watched him, and that he has not emerged from it up to this very hour. He was nine years old at the time—some say even younger.

Ibn Khallikān states that, according to another report, he entered it at the age of seventeen, in 275 AH.

Still others contend that it occurred in 265 AH and that he is alive to this day. (1)